Device and method for verifying feature substances

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for checking value documents marked with feature substances, and to the corresponding feature substances. The feature substances are detected on the basis of Raman or SERS spectroscopy also at high transport speeds with a spatial resolution in the low millimeter region or better and reliably identified.

BACKGROUND

The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for checking valuedocuments marked with feature substances, and to the correspondingfeature substances.

For safeguarding objects or in particular value documents such as banknotes, checks, passports, cards, etc. against forgeries, for quite sometime here have been applied or incorporated feature substances assecurity features, whose presence can be proven by measuring theircharacteristic properties and employed for the authentication of thevalue document. A special class among these are machine-readablesecurity features which, for example, are based on magnetic,photo-luminescent, electric-luminescent, optical absorption or furtherspectroscopic properties of the feature substances. In most cases, thesecannot be recognized with the naked eye, but for authentication aredetected and checked with a sensor specialized therein. In particular inthe field of checking authenticity and state of bank notes by machine,in bank note processing machines these are guided past a series ofsensors with high speeds, e.g. more than 11 m/s, and are automaticallychecked, evaluated and sorted.

In doing so, it is desirable that not only one measuring point per valuedocument is obtained, but the total value document is scanned inspatially resolved manner. This increases the security of theauthenticity check, on the one hand, because with an appropriate spatialextent of the security marking on the value document, also compositeforgeries can then be recognized. Such forgeries are composed of piecesof different segments or portions of authentic value documents and otherforged segments.

Furthermore, with a spatially resolved detection of a spatially locallyattached security marking not only its general presence can be proven,but also its correct positioning on the document can be checked.

With a spatially resolved detection there can be additionally read out,due to the recognition of a security marking spatially attached e.g. inthe form of a bar code, additional information about e.g. kind, series,value etc. of the value document.

In the literature there can be found several descriptions for markingvalue documents with Raman-active matter or in particularsurface-enhanced Raman-scattering (SERS) active matter as well as theirdetection for securing the authenticity.

For example, WO 91/119492 A1 describes the safeguarding of valuedocuments with a printing ink with fine-grained Raman-active components.These are proven upon irradiation with laser light of only few mW withthe help of their characteristic Raman signal at powers to be detectedin the pW region.

In EP 0806460 B1, the marking and safeguarding of value documents with asecurity ink containing SERS or surface-enhanced resonantRaman-scattering (SERRS) active matter is described. In so doing, therelatively weak Raman signals of the marker matters are oftendrastically amplified, by e.g. 6 orders of magnitude, by surfaceplasmonic effects occurring on the surface of metallic nanoparticles(SERS). In the case of the resonant Raman scattering the excitationwavelength is put spectrally in the vicinity of an electronic transitionof the marker substance to be proven, which due to the resultingresonance entails a further significant amplification of the Ramansignal. For the proof there are used classical instruments forstationary Raman spectroscopy in a microscope construction. Althoughthese offer in principle an excellent spatial resolution, they have theserious disadvantage that typical measurement durations in the range ofseconds up to several minutes are very long and hence are unsuitable forfast moved substrates.

EP 1385637 B1 also describes machine-readable security markings forvalue documents having a plurality of suitable marker substances orRaman-active molecules. For the authenticity proof there is employed,besides conventional commercial Raman spectrometers, a special portableRaman sensor with excitation in the infrared region and a CCD detectorwith 2048 pixels of linear resolution. Recording durations withintegration times of 5 s to 60 s are achieved.

In WO 2014/022330 A2 SERS nanomarkers for securing the authenticity andthe proof thereof with a confocal Raman microscope or a portable Ramanspectrometer are described. In both cases the measurement duration of 5s or 20 s is far too slow for being suitable for fast moved samples.

In WO 2007/146753 A2 there is described an in principle universallyemployable high speed Raman spectrometer which with an optomechanicalrotary time-division multiplexer directs the individual wavelengthchannels respectively defined by a tailored bandpass spectral filter ina time shifted manner to one single very quickly readable detector. Bythis approach spectra within 1-100 ms can be obtained. This, however,offers no sufficient spatial resolution for fast moved samples,particularly because the here obtained spectra are spatially/spectrallysmeared. Due to the staggered-in-time detection of the differentspectral channels the intensity information of the different spectralchannels does not come from the same place, but depending on thedetection time of the specific channel from a place further away on thesample moved further.

In WO 2012/030988 A1 there is described an inline spectral sensor forSERS- or Raman-marked moved objects. This includes a fiber-coupledmeasurement head with connection to the light source as well as to thespectrometer which is equipped with a CCD-based detector. The spectralresolution here is to be between 0.01 nm and 5000 nm. A measuring timefor recording a spectrum at an SERS-marked document of 5 ms at a speedof 10 m/s is achieved, which—if immediately repeatable—corresponds to aspatial resolution of at best 5 cm. This is not sufficient for anauthenticity determination with position check of the marking substanceon the value document or for a recognition of bar codes.

For the machine check of the authenticity of moved luminescent valuedocuments, such as for example bank notes, there are further knownsensors, e.g. from WO 2006/010537 A1, which check the luminescenceproperties of marking substances attached thereto spectroscopically.However, these are not suitable for measuring Raman or SERS signals. TheRaman signals occur in a spectral region which with a typical shift ofpossibly only few 1-100 cm⁻¹ is very near to the excitation laserwavelength and—in contrast to luminescent signals—cannot be separated ina time-resolved manner via an afterglow. Moreover, the intensity of theRaman lines is very small in comparison to the Rayleigh line of theelastically scattered excitation light. Therefore, the existingluminescence sensors are not suitable for the proof of Raman markers,because here the rather weak Raman signals are completelyover-irradiated by the Rayleigh-scattered excitation light during theexcitation.

Furthermore, imaging and thus spatially resolving sensors for themachine check of moved bank notes are known, for example, from WO96/36021 A1. These achieve, by recording the light reflected at the banknote via a filtering and recording with line CCD cameras, a spatialresolution smaller than 0.5 mm at speeds higher than 5 m/s. Suchcameras, however, are not suitable for the secure identification ofRaman-spectroscopy signals, because, firstly, the illumination isunsuitable for generating useful Raman signals, secondly, the necessaryspectral resolution with regard to selectivity as well as number ofchannels is far from being achievable, and, thirdly, the necessaryfiltering of the intensive excitation light with a suppression by manyorders of magnitude is not representable in such an image sensorgeometry.

Summing up, the safeguarding of value documents with Raman or SERSmarking substances as well as their basic proof by stationary Ramanspectroscopy or also by Raman spectroscopy carried out with moved valuedocuments is known. However, there exist no sensors which are able torender the specific proof of a Raman or SERS marker over the document atleast along a track in a spatially resolved manner also at transportspeeds usual in bank note processing machines of up to 11 m/s or more.

SUMMARY

Starting out from this, the object to be achieved of the presentinvention is to provide an apparatus and a method for checking valuedocuments, which can detect and reliably identify security features on aRaman or SERS spectroscopic basis also at high transport speeds, e.g.more than 11 m/s, with a spatial resolution in the low millimeter regionor better.

Described is a Raman sensor with a drastically increased speed ofreadout at an at the same time good signal/noise ratio, which achievesthe object of the invention as follows. Sensor for the machine check ofmoved value documents having at least one Raman or SERS or SERRSsecurity feature, wherein, for checking, the sensor is configured toilluminate the value document with excitation light from a laser sourceand to disperse the resulting Raman light of the security features in aspectrometer and to capture it with spectral resolution with a detectorhaving several spectral channels, whereby the light from the same arealregion of the value document collected in the spectral channels iscaptured synchronously by the detector and measurement signalscorresponding to the spectral channels are formed.

The sensor according to the invention is designed to achieve a spatialresolution of less than 12 mm, preferably less than 4 mm, particularlypreferably less than 2 mm. As high transport speeds, e.g. 12 m/s ormore, may occur for the value documents, in the case of a spatialresolution of 2 mm, in the worst case a time of only approx. 160 μs isavailable for the measurement of the total spectrum. The design of thesensor is adjusted accordingly to bring as much light as possible ontothe detector, on the one hand, so as to achieve a signal/noise ratio asgood as possible even with very short integration times. On the otherhand, the detector elements which detect the spectrally resolved lightmust be sufficiently fast and in particular readable synchronously toavoid a spatial/spectral smearing of the spectra caused by the furthermovement of the bank note during the readout time.

In the solution according to the invention the number of the spectralchannels is reduced compared to the Raman spectroscopy devices with1000-4000 channels which are hitherto known and usual in laboratories oras hand devices. These, however, are preferably completely read out inparallel, thereby actually enabling the high speed of readout essentialfor a good spatial resolution in the transport direction. By anevaluation of the obtained signals with analysis methods according tothe invention a reliable identification of the Raman- or SERS-activefeature substances or the recognition of the authenticity connectedtherewith is surprisingly possible in spite of the reduced resolution.

The sensor according to the invention further has a special opticaldesign of the spectrometer with which a reliable suppression of theRayleigh-scattered light is possible. In one embodiment, anotherdetector is attached in the sensor in addition to the detector for theRaman light, which measures the spectral location and intensity of theexcitation laser light.

The sensor apparatuses according to the invention can be employed in allkinds of apparatuses in which optical radiation, in particular Ramanradiation is checked. Although not limited thereto, in the followingthere will be described on the basis of Figures as a preferred variantthe check of bank notes in bank note processing apparatuses which, forexample, may serve for counting and/or sorting and/or depositing and/ordispensing bank notes.

Additionally, the invention comprises a method for the machine check ofvalue documents having at least one Raman or SERS or SERRS securityfeature by means of a sensor, wherein during the check the valuedocument is moved relative to the sensor at high speed, for checking,the value document is illuminated with excitation light from a lasersource, the resulting Raman light of the security features is dispersedin a spectrometer and is captured with spectral resolution with adetector having several spectral channels, wherein from the spectralchannels there are formed respective measurement signals, wherein thelight from the same areal region of the value document collected in thespectral channels is captured synchronously by the detector andspatially resolved measurement signals are formed by repeatedmeasurement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Furthermore, the invention comprises a coding system for distinguishingvalue documents with the sensor according to the invention, whereby thevalue documents are marked with feature substances or mixtures offeature substances which comprise marker molecules which have strongRaman signals in one or several spectral regions with a respectivespectral distance of more than 50 cm⁻¹, preferably more than 100 cm⁻¹,in particular more than 200 cm⁻¹.

There is shown:

FIG. 1 a bank note sorting apparatus having a Raman sensor,

FIG. 2 illustrates in a schematic cross-sectional view the constructionand the arrangement of the optical components of a Raman sensor with aparticularly compact configuration according to an embodiment example ofthe present invention,

FIG. 3A, B illustrate respectively in a schematic view a partial regionof alternative embodiments of the Raman sensor,

FIG. 4 a schematic representation for reading out the intensity datafrom a detector of the Raman sensor,

FIG. 5A, B illustrate in a schematic top view (5A) and a cross-sectionalview (5B) the construction of an embodiment of an entrance slit moduleof the Raman sensor with integrated filtering of the light,

FIG. 6A illustrates schematically in a top view the back side of anembodiment of the entrance slit module with integrated wavelengthsand/or intensity monitor of the Rayleigh-scattered excitation radiation,

FIG. 6B, C illustrate schematically in a cross-sectional view variousembodiments of the entrance slit module with integrated wavelengthsand/or intensity monitor of the Rayleigh-scattered excitation radiation,and

FIG. 7A-D background-corrected intensity data of different featuresubstances in 32 spectral channels.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF VARIOUS EMBODIMENTS

In FIG. 1 there is shown by way of example such a bank note sortingapparatus 1. The bank note sorting apparatus 1 here has an input pocket3 in a housing 2 for bank notes BN into which bank notes BN to beprocessed are inserted either manually from outside or to whichbank-note bundles can be fed automatically or, where applicable, after apreceding debanding. The bank notes BN inserted into the input pocket 3are drawn off singly from the stack by a singler 4 and transportedthrough a sensor device 6 by means of a transport device 5. The sensordevice 6 here may have one or several sensor modules integrated in ajoint housing or attached in separate housings. The sensor modules mayserve for e.g. checking the authenticity and/or the state and/or thenominal value of the checked bank notes BN. After running through thesensor device 6 the checked bank notes BN are then sorted in dependenceon the check results of the sensor device 6 and given sorting criteriaand output via gates 7 and associated spiral slot stackers 8 into outputpockets 9 from which they can be either removed manually or carried offautomatically, where applicable after a preceding banding or packaging.A shredder can also be provided for destroying bank notes BN classifiedas authentic and no longer fit for circulation. The control of the banknote sorting apparatus 1 is effected by means of a computer-aidedcontrol unit 11. As mentioned above, the sensor device 6 may havedifferent sensor modules. The sensor device 6 is characterized inparticular by a sensor module 12 (FIG. 2) for checking Raman-scatteredexcitation light, to be referred to hereinafter for short as Ramansensor 12.

The Raman sensor 12 in particular has in one joint housing 13 a lasersource 101 for the excitation of Raman scatter radiation, opticalelements such as lenses 102, 103, 106 and filters 105 as well as aspectrometer 110 which has at least one detector 115 for the spectrallydecomposed capture of the Raman-scattered light. For coupling out theexcitation radiation and for coupling in the scattered light, thehousing 13 has an opening which can optionally be closed with a suitablewindow having high transmission in the relevant spectral region. Thewindow, optionally, has further one or two antireflection coating(s). Inone embodiment, the window may also have the form of a non-planarsurface in the form of a light-refractive lens. The inner walls of thehousing are preferably dyed black, this referring to a low reflectivityin the entire relevant spectral region, in particular including the NIRregion. Bank notes to be checked are transported past the Raman sensor12 in the transport direction T.

In one embodiment, directly opposite of the Raman sensor 12 there ismounted a mechanical stop which limits or stabilizes the location of themoved bank notes relative to the focal position of the sensor. In thisway, the flutter motions of the bank notes often occurring at highspeeds of e.g. 10 m/s and more and the variations of the focal positionoccurring in this connection can be avoided. This increases thereliability and accuracy of the Raman measurement.

In an illumination unit the narrow-band light of the laser source 101,which preferably comprises a semiconductor laser, is focussed onto thevalue document to be checked. Preferably, one or several semiconductorlasers with frequency-selective structures are employed here, whichgenerate a narrow-band, preferably mono-mode emission and stabilize theemission wavelength. The frequency-selective structures may have, forexample, gratings with distributed feedback (DFB) or mirrors withdistributed feedback (distributed Bragg reflector, DBR) or accordinglyshort Fabry-Perot resonators as they are used, for example, in verticalcavity surface emitting lasers (VCSEL). As the maximum output powerthereof is limited typically to the region of some mW, preferably anarray of several VCSELs is used for generating the illuminationradiation. The laser light source of the sensor is coupled to a suitableheat sink and preferably actively temperature-stabilized through aPeltier element. In one embodiment the laser temperature is activelymonitored by one or several temperature sensing devices to obtain ameasure for the output wavelength of the excitation radiation and to useit, where applicable, for the evaluation or correction of the recordedspectra. Optionally, these temperature values are also used for activelyregulating the laser temperature. This is necessary in order tostabilize the laser power, on the one hand, and to stabilize theexcitation wavelength, on the other hand, because the laser wavelengthof DFB lasers or VCSELs, also in the most favourable case of a stablemono-mode operation shifts with approx. 0.06 nm/K. In order for theexcitation wavelength to vary less than ±0.5 nm, the temperature of thelaser chip must be constantly held at better than ±8 K.

The laser wavelength is selected in dependence on the SERS or Ramanfeature to be detected. Since in the Raman spectroscopy the frequency ofthe examination light has no influence on the relative spectral locationof the Raman lines, the excitation wavelength is in principle freelyselectable (e.g. intensive laser lines etc.). If the excitationwavelength is selected such that an electronic transition is excited, itcomes to an amplification effect of particular Raman lines (resonanceeffect). In such a resonance Raman spectroscopy only the oscillationbands of the molecule part involved in the electronic transition areamplified.

Short excitation wavelengths in the blue/green have the advantage of anintensity of the Raman-scattered light increasing proportionally to1/λ⁴, but can, in some cases, also efficiently excite fluorescenceswhich then as an intensive background disturb the selective detection ofthe Raman signals. Hence, the environment of the Raman feature(substrate, printing inks, etc.) also plays a role when selecting theexcitation wavelength. Preferably, wavelengths in the proximity of 1064nm, 980 nm, 808 nm, 785 nm, 760 nm 670 nm, 630 nm, 532 nm, 445 nm, 405nm or 380 nm are selected.

As an alternative to the use of a semiconductor laser there can also beemployed an external, fiber-coupled laser, which at the position of thelaser diode instead of it is coupled into the sensor via a fibercoupler. While this increases the volume of the assemblies, there alsoarise advantages with respect to laser power, beam quality, wavelengthchoice or frequency stability.

The laser can either be operated in pulsed fashion or continuously (cw),in the interests of a stable (i.e. chirp-free) excitation wavelengthcw-mode is preferred, however.

The light of the excitation laser 101 is astigmatism-corrected without-coupling optics, where applicable, and imaged with one or severallenses 102 as well as additional apertures, where applicable, into aparallel beam bundle. This is coupled into the main beam path 120 via abeam splitter 104 and is focused onto the bank note 150 to be checkedwith a lens system 103. These apertures are preferably designed to beabsorbent in order to avoid uncontrolled scattered light or to minimizeits intensity. In a preferred embodiment, the lens system 103 consistsof one single lens.

The laser power on the bank note lies in the region of 1 mW to 10 W,preferably 10 mW to 1 W.

In a preferred embodiment, the focus spot has an extent of less than 5mm, about 4 mm×2 mm, or 2 mm×0.5 mm, or 1 mm×0.3 mm. Here, the longeraxis of the focus spot is oriented preferably perpendicular to themoving direction of the bank note which allows a higher spatialresolution in the moving direction. The size of the focus spot is gearedpreferably to the dimensions of an entrance slit, or slightlyover-irradiates this by for example 20%. With such a design thedependence of the measured signal on the exact distance of the bank noterelative to the Raman sensor 12 is advantageously reduced.

The power density in the focus region is between 0.1 W/cm² to 10 kW/cm²,preferably between 5 W/cm² to 2 kW/cm². Here, the upper bound of thereasonably employable power density is given, among other things, by thedamage thresholds of the bank notes to be checked, i.e. of thesubstrate, of the printing inks or of the feature substances. Thesedamage thresholds may strongly depend on the wavelength.

In another embodiment, the coupling in of the excitation radiation isnot effected via a dichroic beam splitter, but via a conventionalmirror. Here, the beam path of the excitation light and that of thelight scattered at the bank note is decoupled via the mirror geometry.As schematically depicted in FIG. 3A, the in-coupling mirror 108 ispositioned behind the lens system 103 and much smaller than the lensdiameter. This achieves that only little of the scattered light getslost by reflecting it out. The separation between Raman- andRayleigh-scattered light here takes place with the filter 105 mandatoryhere, which can be configured as an edge filter or as a notch filter. Asthe excitation light is directed directly onto the bank note as aparallel beam bundle without lens, problems possibly occurring uponexcitation because of variations in the focal position are avoided. Thefurther beam path for collecting, spectrally decomposing and detectingthe scattered light is effected analogously to the description of FIG.2.

Alternatively, the coupling in of the excitation light via a smallmirror can also be effected before the lens system 103, which in turnresults in a focusing of the excitation light.

In another embodiment, the illumination with the excitation light iseffected in an annular geometry. This is schematically illustrated inFIG. 3B. Here, by beam-forming laser optics 116 a toroidal or annularbeam cross section is generated which is then focused via the lenssystem 103 onto the bank note by an elliptical mirror ring 109.Illumination geometries analogous to these embodiments can be alsogenerated with fiber-coupled laser sources if the fiber couplers arepositioned suitably. In a further instance, in the various mentionedembodiments of the illumination, the light of a second excitation laserwith a different wavelength can be coupled in via suitably designedoptics at component 102. The further beam path for collecting,spectrally decomposing and detecting the scattered light is effectedanalogously to the description of FIG. 2.

At the bank note 150 the excitation light is Rayleigh-scattered andRaman-scattered. Here, the intensity of the back-scattered light isclearly dominated by the Rayleigh-scattered portion. Both scatteredlight portions are directed by the lens system 103 as a parallel beamonto the beam splitter 104.

The beam splitter 104 as a dichroic beam splitter in a preferredembodiment is coated with a multilayer reflection filter which at theemployed angle of attack, e.g. near 45°, acts as an edge filter. At theselected angle of incidence there is a high reflection degree, e.g.preferably greater than 90%, or more preferably greater than 95%, orparticularly preferably greater than 99%, or >99.9%, for the excitationwavelength, while for the longer-wave, Stokes-shifted Raman light thereis a substantially higher transmission portion. The transmission forRaman light Stokes-shifted by more than 300 cm⁻¹ is more than 70%,preferably 80%, particularly preferably 90%. In this form, the beamsplitter 104, besides the geometrical coupling in of the light beam, atthe same time advantageously contributes to the suppression of theexcitation light in the detector.

In a preferred embodiment, the parallel beam with Raman light and aclearly reduced portion of Rayleigh light is imaged via one or severalfurther optional filters 105 with a further lens 106 via a deflectingmirror 107 onto an entrance slit module 111.

In one embodiment, the one or more further filter(s) 105 act(s) as (an)absorption filter(s). This avoids the danger that the combined filtereffect of the two interference filters 104, 105 could be reduced,compared to that of the individual filters, by interference effects dueto multiple reflections. In another embodiment, the one or more furtherfilter(s) 105 act(s) as (an) interference filter(s), in particular as anedge filter and serves for filtering the Rayleigh-scattered excitationlight only insufficiently blocked by the inclined beam splitter orfilter 104. In this context, also one or several polarization filtersmay be additionally introduced into the beam path to compensate the, insome cases, rather strong polarization dependence of the inclined beamsplitter 104. For this purpose, in one embodiment, a linear polarizationfilter can be attached between lens 103 and bank note 150, which notonly passes the linearly polarized laser light of the excitationradiation but also blocks the depolarized portion of the scatteredlight. Alternatively, the polarization filter can be positioned togetherwith the filter 105, which also reduces at the laser wavelength thelight possibly insufficiently filtered by the beam splitter.

In another embodiment, the deflecting mirror 107 is omitted and thelight is imaged directly onto the entrance slit module 111 of thespectrometer 110 disposed in the main beam path 120 and now rotated by90°.

In a further embodiment, the deflecting mirror 107 is simultaneouslyused as a remission monitor. If the excitation light is in thesensitivity region of silicon, i.e. in a wavelength region of approx.350-1050 nm, depending on the silicon substrate, a silicon photodiodecan be provided with suitable dielectric layers which reflect the Ramanradiation to be detected but transmit the excitation light. With such amirror/beam splitter the separation of the excitation light from thelight to be detected can be improved (depending on the quality of thelayer) and, in addition, the excitation light can be quantitativelycaptured. Hence, this beam splitter has also the function of a remissionchannel which proves the excitation light remitted by the BN. Such aconstruction also has the further great advantage that the excitationlight disturbing in the spectrometer or detector is absorbed and thusnot further mirrored in the sensor.

In other embodiments there is explicitly provided a particular detectorfor recording the intensity of the remitted, i.e. Rayleigh-scatteredlight.

In the spectrometer 110 the light of the entrance slit of the entranceslit module 111 is imaged by a lens system 112 onto a reflectiondiffraction grating 113, spectrally decomposed there, and after a newfocusing by the lens system 112 imaged onto a detector 115. The lenssystem 112 here may consist either of a single aspherical or sphericallens, or comprise several lenses for correcting different imagingdefects.

In an alternative embodiment, the combination of a planar grating 113and lens system 112 can be replaced by an imaging concave grating whichassumes both functions.

In case that the suppression of the excitation light by the filters 104or 105 has not been effected completely and that this has only bedistinctly weakened, this will also reach into the spectrometer 110.There, this light must also be handled very carefully, so that it willnot impair the measurement as a scatter radiation. On the one hand, allorders (0th, −1st, −2nd, 2nd, . . . ) are absorbed in targeted fashionby beam traps, black walls, etc. In a preferred embodiment, theexcitation light which is diffracted in the first (or analogously minusfirst) order is again directly imaged onto the slit. Thus, this light ismirrored out of the spectrometer 110 and can therefore no longer bedisturbing in the spectrometer 110. Still, it should be attempted toabsorb also this light within the Raman sensor 12 in targeted fashion.Due to the spectral proximity of the Stokes-shifted Raman light to theexcitation light the detector 115 which is to prove the Raman light mustbe very near the entrance slit. This has the advantage that imagingdefects are minimized and thus the construction can be very compact. Butit is to be considered here that upon imaging the excitation light therealso have to be taken into account imaging defects. Even when a foot ofmerely 0.1% would be observed, this could lead to a failure in thepixels of the detector 115 which are located directly beside theentrance slit.

Here, in the spectrometer 110, by accordingly positioned light-absorbentwalls 114 there can be absorbed disturbing scattered light, and hencethe background of the measurement can be reduced.

Alternatively, the excitation light can also be directed in targetedfashion into a beam trap within or outside the spectrometer 110, inwhich the light, of course, can also be proven. This can also beeffected with spectral resolution. In a beam trap, of course, alsoabsorption filters can be used.

The sufficiently weakened excitation light could also be detected withthe detector 115. This has the advantage that the spectral distance tothe lines to be detected can be directly measured and possibly occurringwavelength shifts can be corrected by an evaluation device 130. In afurther embodiment, a coated absorption filter is attached to thedetector 115, which again damps the excitation radiation to be detected.

The detector 115 preferably has a detector line of severalphoto-sensitive pixels, i.e. image points, arranged in series and isdesigned for the good spatial resolution of the Raman sensor 12 of theinvention of less than 2 mm. As transport speeds of up to 12 m/s mayoccur for the value documents, in the case of a spatial resolution of 2mm there is available, in the worst case, only a time of approx. 160 μsfor the measurement of the total spectrum. Even with a reduced spatialresolution of 5 mm, only a maximum of 410 μs is available for themeasurement of the spectrum. The detector 115 is accordingly designedfor a readout time of less than 500 μs, preferably less than 100 μs. Asweak signals are to be recorded with short integration times, theetendue of the system was optimized. For this, the cross-sectional area,i.e. the entrance slit has been selected relatively large. This hasdirect effects on the detector or on the scanned area on the bank note.

In a preferred first implementation, an especially sensitive andlight-intense Raman sensor 12 with less than 100 spectral channels isemployed.

Here a relatively large entrance slit with dimensions of, for example,2×0.5 mm² is employed. The slit width is selected from the region of 0.2mm to 1 mm, the slit length is 1.5 to 10 times larger than that. Theaspect ratio of the entrance slit clearly deviating from 1 contributesto the fact that a large amount of light is collected on the pixels ofthe detector 115 without the spectral resolution being reduced toostrongly here, because the width of the pixels in the dispersiondirection can be kept small here.

The slit dimensions also directly define approximately the size of eachindividual pixel in the light-optimized system. In order for therestrictions through the expediently available overall space of thespectrometer 110 as well as the occurring imaging defects to be takeninto account, with a slit size in the order of magnitude of 1 mm, thenumber of the pixels of the detector 115 will be limited to less than100. In a particularly preferred embodiment, 32 spectral channels andthus 32 pixels for the detector 115 are selected.

The detector 115 comprises a number of pixels which corresponds to thenumber of spectral channels, the pixels having a relatively large pixelarea and, compared to standard detectors, a portion ofnon-photosensitive regions between the pixels being diminished. Whilestandard CCD lines have pixel dimensions of e.g. 15 μm or 30 μm, herethe dimensions are in the mm region. This has the advantage that aclearly larger signal/noise ratio is achieved than with conventional CCDdetector lines.

Preferably, the detector lines in this embodiment are constructed suchthat they merely have between 10 and 100, particularly preferablybetween 15 and 50 individual pixels in or on a substrate. The individualpixels may have dimensions of at least 0.5 mm×0.75 mm, preferably of 0.5mm×1 mm, particularly preferably of 0.7 mm×2 mm. Preferably, the aspectratio of the pixel dimensions is adjusted to the aspect ratio of greaterthan 1.5 of the entrance slit. The dimensions of the individual pixelsmay be different, e.g. in some positions or spectral regions twice orthree times larger than in other positions. This permits the monitoringof particular spectral regions with different spectral resolution andmay reduce the production costs of the sensor.

Advantageously, also the size and form of the illumination spot isadjusted to the size and form of the entrance slit, in order to lose aslittle as possible of the generated Raman light through the imaging ofthe luminous spot onto the entrance slit.

Depending on the wavelength region to be captured spectrally, in thementioned cases the pixels of the detector 115 may consist of differentmaterials. For Raman measurements in the ultraviolet or visible spectralregion, detectors made of silicon which are sensitive to wavelengthsbelow approx. 1100 nm are particularly suitable and for measurements inthe infrared spectral region those made of InGaAs which are sensitive towavelengths above 900 nm. Preferably, such an InGaAs detector line isapplied directly onto a silicon substrate which particularly preferablyhas an amplifier stage produced in silicon technology to amplify theanalogous signals of the pixels of the InGaAs detector line. By thisthere is likewise given also a particularly compact construction withshort signal paths and increased signal/noise ratio.

A readout of the individual pixels of the detector 115 can here beeffected serially e.g. with the help of a shift register. Preferably,there is effected a parallel readout of individual pixels and/or pixelgroups, however. According to the example of FIG. 4, the three leftpixels 40 are respectively read out individually, by the measurementsignals of these pixels 40 being amplified with the help of respectivelyone amplifier stage 45, which may be e.g. component of the siliconsubstrate, and fed respectively to an analog/digital converter 46. Thetwo right pixels in the schematic representation of FIG. 4 again arefirst amplified by means of separate amplifier stages 45, then are fedto a joint multiplex unit 47 which, where applicable, may also comprisea sample & hold circuit, and then to a joint analog/digital converter 46connected with the multiplex unit 47. The parallel readout of severalpixels 40 or pixel groups made possible thereby makes possible shortintegration times and a synchronized measurement of the bank note. Thismeasure also contributes to an increase of the signal/noise ratio.

In a second implementation, a Raman sensor 12 with a relatively highspectral resolution is employed which has a sensitivity slightly reducedcompared to the first embodiment.

Here, an entrance slit with dimensions in the region of 25 μm×250 μm to100 μm×1 mm is employed. The aspect ratio of the entrance slit clearlydeviating from 1 again contributes to the fact that a large amount oflight is collected on the pixels of the detector 115 without thespectral resolution being strongly reduced here, because the width ofthe pixels in the dispersion direction can be kept small. Preferably, aslit width is selected, which is 2 to 5 times the width of the pixelwidth on the detector 115.

As a detector 115 there is employed a fast readable CCD camera withsynchronous integration time, preferably a CCD line-scan camera, inorder to avoid the phenomenon of “image smearing” caused by movedobjects. This would lead to a spatial/spectral smearing of the intensityvalues in the Raman sensor 12.

Preferably, for this there is selected a so-called interline or frametransfer architecture in which the charges collected by the individualpixels or photodiodes are shifted very fast into an optically denselydarkened region of storage pixels, in which they can then be read outserially via a conventional shift register without distortion of thespectral information by further accumulation in the pixels read outlater. In another embodiment, there is employed a CCD chip with highreading rate (higher than 30 MHz) and electronic shutter function whichprevents an influencing of the accumulated charges during the readout.

In special embodiments, so-called TDI (time domain integration) CCD linesensors are used, in which a suitable line-by-line shift of the chargepackets on the CCD detector chip synchronous to the movement of theimaging of the focus point on the moved bank note achieves a multi-stepaccumulation of the charges and thus amplification over several (e.g. 4or 16) line cycles. This avoids that the detected signal is smeared overits structures, such as visible printing etc., by the motion of theimaged object. This is decisive in particular upon the detection ofspatially structured codings, such as bar codes.

In a further embodiment, a fast readable CMOS camera with active pixelcontrol and synchronous readout is employed. Here, too, a line sensorwith high reading rate is preferably employed.

As an alternative to the line-scan camera, a camera with 2D array canalso be employed, provided that the readout of the individual lines(i.e. spectra) is effected synchronously and sufficiently fast. Thisthen allows an averaging over the various lines for improving thesignal/noise ratio or, alternatively, a direct spatial resolutionperpendicular to the moving direction.

The Raman sensor 12 in one embodiment is designed to record Raman lightwith a Stokes shift of 100 cm⁻¹ to 4000 cm⁻¹. In a further embodiment,the Raman sensor 12 is designed to record Raman light with a Stokesshift of 1000 cm⁻¹ to 3600 cm⁻¹ with a slightly higher spectralresolution. In this case, the larger spectral distance to the laser linesimplifies the suppression of the excitation light. In a furtherembodiment, the Raman sensor 12 is designed to record Raman light with aStokes shift of 1800 cm⁻¹ to 2600 cm⁻¹ with a particularly high spectralresolution, in particular better than 35 cm⁻¹, preferably better than 25cm⁻¹.

In special embodiments, advantageously, the entrance slit module 111 ofthe spectrometer may fulfil several functions in combined fashion. Onthe one hand, it defines the entrance slit by its geometricaldimensions, on the other hand, a further filter function may beintegrated therein and/or a measurement of the wavelength or power ofthe excitation laser may be performed.

In FIG. 5A there is schematically shown a top view and in FIG. 5B across-sectional view of an embodiment of the entrance slit module 111with combined filter effect. This comprises a carrier substrate 201transparent to the Raman light at least in some spectral regions, whichis coated with a layer 203 opaque to the excitation light and to theRaman light. This layer preferably acts absorbent to the spectralregions of the excitation light and Raman light to prevent uncontrolledreflections in the sensor. The opaque layer may here comprise absorbentinks, metals, such as Cr, Ti, Ni, etc. as well as their oxides,sulphides, and/or broadband absorbers, such as carbon (carbon black).Into the layer 203 there is structured an opening which acts as anentrance slit 202. This can be effected either additive by printing orvaporizing, e.g. in shadow mask technology, or subtractive by applying aclosed layer which in a second step is structured, masked and etchedfree.

In one embodiment, the semitransparent substrate 201 itself acts as anabsorption filter for the excitation radiation. This can be effected,for example, by employing a silicon crystal as a substrate for theentrance slit module 111 in combination with an InGaAs-based detector115. This allows the excitation radiation smaller 1100 nm to beselectively absorbed, while the Raman radiation in the infrared spectralregion is transmitted and can be detected by the detector 115. In orderto improve the filter effect and/or be able to set spectral curves forthe filter effect in targeted fashion, one or several further filterlayers 205 may optionally be applied. These may comprise dielectrics andalso absorbers.

In another embodiment, in the entrance slit module 111, beside thegeometrical definition of the entrance slit, there is performed ameasurement of the wavelength and/or of the power of the excitationlaser 101. This information is advantageously employed for controllingor stabilizing the excitation laser. This can be used independently orin combination with the described embodiments with filter effect.

Here, as illustrated in FIG. 6A, on the side facing away from theentrance slit, on or in the substrate there is formed an arrangement ofphotodiodes 204. In the case that the substrate 201 consists of siliconor other suitable semiconductors, these can be directly formed in thesubstrate 201 with the corresponding methods of semiconductormanufacturing. In other cases, such as in the case of a glass substrate,the photodiodes can either be formed on the substrate in thin filmtechnology or alternatively can be mounted there. The wavelengthmeasurement of the excitation radiation here is achieved by designingthe spectrometer or its grating such that the first diffraction order ofthe excitation light—at least at its nominal wavelength—is thrown backfrom the grating again back in itself onto the entrance slit. If now thewavelength of the excitation radiation deviates from the nominal valuedue to drifts or variations, the first diffraction order is no longerthrown back exactly onto the entrance slit but in a slightly deviatingdirection which is detected accordingly by the adjacently attachedphotodiodes.

In FIG. 6B, the situation is illustrated in an embodiment example, inwhich the photodiodes are positioned in the substrate 201 and thisacts—for example formed from Si—at the same time as a filter forshort-wave excitation radiation. The light incident through the slit 202in the opaque layer 203 is filtered by the substrate 201 and theintensity of the Rayleigh-scattered (and filtered) from the bank note isdetermined with the central pixel of the photodiode arrangement 204.With an excitation radiation wavelength deviating from the nominal valuemore light falls onto the adjacent pixels of the photodiode arrangement204, which can be utilized for the quantitative determination of theexcitation wavelength.

Such a slit module is used preferably in combination with an InGaAsdetector.

A further embodiment is schematically illustrated in the cross sectionin FIG. 6C. Here, a physical slit 202 is configured through both theopaque layer 203 and the complete substrate 201, so that no filtering orabsorption of the incident light takes place in the input slit module111. The physical slit 202 can be configured, for example, by etching acorresponding trench through the substrate 201, which may consist e.g.of silicon. This embodiment is preferably employed when the wavelengthof the excitation radiation is to be monitored and when both excitationand Raman radiation are in the absorption region of the (silicon)substrate 201. Alternatively, also separate detector elements may besuitably positioned in the spectrometer 110—independent of the design ofthe diffraction grating 113—for monitoring the excitation radiation.

Starting out from the measured intensity values of the individualspectral channels of the Raman spectrum linearly scaled in wavelengths(nm), a processing and evaluation of the measurement data is effected inthe evaluation unit 130 of the Raman sensor 12. For this, first apossibly present background portion is determined and subtracted fromthe measured intensity values in order to obtain background-correctedintensity values.

In one embodiment, for this, the moving minimum is calculated over nnodes of the measured intensity values. The number n of nodes is gearedto the total number of spectral channels and the spectral resolution ofthe measuring region and, advantageously, is selected such that nexceeds the number of measuring points which resolve one individualpeak. If the typical (e.g. most intensive) Raman peaks consist of, forexample, three measuring points, then preferably at least five or atleast seven channels are employed for the calculation of the movingminimum as an estimated value for the background.

In a more general embodiment, a moving percentile, e.g. the lowest 10%,lowest 30% or the median with 50% is selected to determine the course ofthe background. This has the advantage that individual outliers caused,e.g. by noise do not carry an unduly high weight.

In a further embodiment, nodes to be employed for the calculation of thebackground are explicitly specified. This offers the advantage thatthere can be selected in targeted fashion spectral regions from which inthe case of an authentic (and freshly printed) bank note no significantRaman signal is to be expected. These are selected preferably in theregion of 1900-2500 cm⁻¹, because in this spectral region none of thefeature substances preferably employed for marking has Raman lines. Thisenables a particularly reliable determination of the background.

After the spectral channels with their measured intensity values to beused for the background subtraction were selected, these areinterpolated by a polynomial adaption and the background-correctedmeasurement data are formed by subtraction of the interpolated valuesfrom the measured intensity values. In the easiest case a linearadaption is selected for the polynominal adaption, in other cases therecan be selected a polynom of higher degrees, cubic splines, etc.

In the next, optional, step the background-corrected measurement valuesare normalized. For this, in one embodiment, the maximum of thebackground-corrected measurement values is determined and thebackground-corrected measurement data are divided by this maximum value,so that normalized background-corrected measured values lying in theinterval [0, 1] are obtained.

Subsequently, in one embodiment, the evaluation of the measuredintensity values is effected by the peak positions of the Raman spectrumbeing determined. For this, a list of the channel indexes of the localmaxima is created in the discrete measurement value array of thespectral channels. Alternatively, a list of interpolated peak positionsis created. For this, the apexes of parabolas are employed, which arerespectively defined by three points whose central point employed forthe adaption respectively corresponds to a local maximum of themeasurement values. With this method there can be determined even moreprecise spectral positions—also more precise than the nominal spectralchannel spacing. This method delivers results identical to the likewisepossible method of determining the interpolated zero values of thederivative.

After the peak positions of the Raman spectrum were determined, there isoptionally effected a selection of the peaks to be employed for thefurther authenticity recognition. Either only peaks with a particularminimum intensity may be used. Alternatively, only peaks with a maximumfull width at half maximum or with a full width at half maximum in aspecified region between a lower and an upper threshold may be used forthe further evaluation. Alternatively, only the k highest peaks may beemployed for the further evaluation or for the authenticity recognition.

In the further course of the evaluation there are differentpossibilities: either a direct verification of the measured Ramanspectrum is effected, i.e. a comparison with a reference spectrum of anauthentic bank note or a comparison with a library of various authenticreference spectra, or there is first carried out a classification with asubsequent verification. The first possibility is particularlyadvantageous, when the Raman sensor is adapted exclusively for theauthenticity recognition of one single denomination, i.e. if only onesingle, firmly specified authenticity feature must be recognized. Thelatter method is expedient in particular when several differentcurrencies and different denominations are to be recognized with thehelp of the Raman spectrum (i.e. comparison with an entire library ofRaman fingerprints), because a classification algorithm is often fasterthan a verification algorithm.

The numerical classification of the (normalized) background-correctedmeasurement value in one embodiment is effected via a statisticalclassification, e.g. by estimating the scattering point clouds of theindividual class members by normal distributions. Based on these, themost likely class affiliation can be ascertained which is then verifiedwith a verification algorithm. Alternatively, a next-neighbourclassificator, support vector machines, a polynom classificator, aneural network, or a Fisher linear discriminant are used forclassification. There may likewise be selected the class which shows thegreatest similarity with respect to the correlation between the measuredspectrum and the reference spectrum. All classification methods can notonly be applied to the original curves (i.e. the normalizedbackground-corrected measurement values), but also to their derivatives.

In general, the verification is finally effected by the calculation of asimilarity measure between the measured Raman spectrum and the referencespectrum. The similarity measure may be a Euclidean distance, a squaredEuclidean distance, normalized squared Euclidean distance, Manhattandistance, checkerboard distance, Bray-Curtis distance, Canberradistance, cosine distance, or a correlation distance.

In another embodiment, the particular spectral positions of theessential peaks may be directly compared with a table of the referencespectrum, i.e. it is checked whether the measured Raman spectrum atexactly specified places—within a tolerance in the form of a real numberin the case of interpolated peak positions or of a discrete tolerance inthe case of a channel index—matches the reference spectrum. In oneembodiment, in doing so, merely the spectral position of the peaks iscompared, in other embodiments, additionally the relative or absoluteintensities.

In a preferred embodiment, a uniform correction of a spectral channelshift can be effected, as it may be caused, for example, by afluctuating wavelength of the excitation laser. The degree of thespectral shift which is required for this correction can be determined,for example, with the help of the measured spectral position of a, e.g.the most intensive peak and the comparison with the target value.Expediently, the permissible maximum shift is still further restrictedby a threshold value in order to not unnecessarily weaken theauthenticity recognition.

Alternatively, the verification can be effected by checking whether themeasured Raman spectrum has peaks in at least individual specifiedplaces. For this, there are advantageously employed the most intensivepeaks of the Raman spectrum. Here, likewise, again a real or discretetolerance may be allowed in order to recognize a match.

In a further embodiment it is checked, whether the correlation <x,y>/(|x∥y|) between the measured (background-corrected and perhapsnormalized) Raman spectrum and a reference spectrum exceeds a certainthreshold. This is e.g. the case, when the correlation is greater 0.7,preferably greater 0.8, further preferably greater 0.95. Here, <x, y>designates the scalar product between the two spectra x or y regarded asvectors and | | the absolute value of the respective vector.

Alternatively, the derivative of the Raman spectrum and of the referencespectrum is determined and it is checked whether the correlation betweenthese exceeds a predefined threshold.

Preferably, the correlation is calculated several times, the referencecurve being spectrally shifted step by step in a small region. In sodoing, one obtains a correlation curve. With the maximum of thecorrelation curve there is simultaneously determined the optimum channelcorrection for the correction of any laser drift of the excitation laser101 and with a sufficient numerical value of the correlation coefficientthere is verified the class affiliation. Here, too, the permissiblemaximum shift is expediently restricted by a threshold value in order tonot unnecessarily weaken the authenticity recognition.

In a particularly preferable variant, the wavelength of the excitationlaser 101 can be measured directly in the Raman sensor 12 and thismeasurement value can be employed for correcting the spectral channels.This is of advantage in particular with a dense Raman spectrum with manypeaks (in the worst case also approximately equally high peaks), becauseotherwise it cannot be determined reliably which peak was shifted inwhich direction.

Alternatively it is also possible to carry out these comparisons or thecalculation of the similarity measure employed for the verification withthe Fourier transform of the normalized background-corrected measurementvalues in comparison to the Fourier transform of the reference spectrum.

As the excitation laser 101 of the Raman sensor 12 operates, in theinterest of an optimum signal intensity, at high powers slightly belowthe destruction threshold, in a preferred embodiment, additionalmeasures are taken to reliably prevent a damage of the bank notes to bechecked.

In a first step it is prevented that in the case of a transport fault orwhen a bank note jam occurs a bank note 150 remains permanently in thefocus spot of the excitation laser 101 and is improperly strongly heatedup there. For this, there is advantageously employed the signal of theexcitation light remitted or back-scattered from the bank note 150,obtained in the Raman sensor 12, which is modulated according to theprinted image of the bank note 150. If now the signal of the remittedlight remains constant over several measurement cycles, in particular ata rather low level, a bank note jam will be recognized and the power ofthe excitation laser 101 is reduced or switched off. In a furtherembodiment, an additional remission sensor or light scanner is provided,which assumes this task. For this, the light remitted (back-scatteredand emitted) from the bank note under illumination is measured.Preferably, the excitation light exits from the Raman sensor 12 onlywhen a bank note 150 is positioned in front of the Raman sensor 12 (e.g.remission greater 0 or greater 0.05) and when this does not rest, i.e.the remission signal is subjected to temporal fluctuations.

In a further embodiment, the power of the excitation laser 101 isdynamically adjusted to the current absorption ratios on the bank note150. Here, the power of the excitation laser 101 varies between at leasttwo power stages, the nominal (high) power and at least one reducedpower stage. If the measured remission undershoots a particular value,e.g. greater 0.3 or greater 0.15, the power of the excitation laser 101is reduced to the lower power stage, with which a damage of the banknote 150 is excluded. As the excitation laser 101 is not switched offcompletely, the determination of the remission is possible also at thenext measuring point. In this way, a change back again to the highexcitation power can be performed, when e.g. one or several measuringpoints of the remission again are above a switching-on-threshold value.

In a further, preferred embodiment, the Raman sensor 12 has anadditional measurement point for the remission measurement, which in themoving direction of the bank note is positioned in front of themeasurement point of the Raman sensor 12. The remission of the bank note150 is thus monitored before the Raman measurement and for everymeasurement place on the bank note 150 it can be determined in advancewhich excitation power is to used there, or whether there is to beeffected a Raman measurement at all. This remission measurement ispreferably effected with an illumination wavelength near the laserwavelength employed for the Raman measurement to obtain representativeremission or absorption values. This enables a signal-optimized Ramanmeasurement and at the same time it is ensured that the bank note 150cannot be damaged.

Typical Raman molecule vibrations occur in the region of 200 to 4000wave numbers (cm⁻¹). This region can be roughly divided into subregionsfor vibrations of specific groups.

For forming a Raman feature, the marker molecules are brought into asuitable particle form by grinding or, where applicable, by adsorptionor bonding to other substrate or matrix substances, and areencapsulated, where applicable, to protect them from environmentalimpacts.

For forming an SERS feature, the marker molecules are brought into close(e.g. direct) contact with a metallic nanoparticle (“antenna”) which viasurface-plasmonic effects leads to a drastic amplification of Ramansignals of the marker molecule. The combination of marker molecules andantenna particle is encapsulated, where applicable, to protect them fromenvironmental impacts. For a more detailed description of productionmethods of SERS features reference is made to e.g. EP 0806460 B1 or WO2014/022330 A2.

In a preferred embodiment, organic molecules are used as markermolecules. These have, among other things, C—H— and C—C-bonds, whichform characteristic signals. For example, the C—H vibrations ofsaturated carbon groups cause, e.g. with molecules having alkyl chains,strong signals in the region of 2700-3200 cm⁻¹.

A strong signal in the region of 2000-2200 cm⁻¹ is typical for C—C orC—N triple bonds, e.g. with molecules having nitrile groups. Strongsignals of unsaturated C—H vibrations occur typically in the region of1300-1800 cm⁻¹, e.g. with molecules having allyl groups. Strong signalsfrom vibrations where two or more connected carbon atoms are involved,such as e.g. so-called lattice vibrations, may occur in the region of1300-200 cm⁻¹. In particular aromatic unsubstituted phenyl groups have avery strong, characteristic signal at 990-1100 cm⁻¹.

In a usual (forensic) analysis of a high-resolution Raman spectrum, byevaluating small differences in the band positions or the occurrence andthe ratios of several small bands in these regions there can be drawninferences about the identity of the molecule or the molecule can beidentified.

Upon analysis of a high-speed measurement the exact moleculeidentification is no longer possible due to the clearly decreasedspectral resolution. Here, instead rather qualitative properties of theemployed marker molecules, such as the existence of a strong phenyl bandin the region of 990-1100 nm, the existence of a C—C triple bond in theregion of 2040-2080 cm⁻¹, or the existence of an extensive region ofalkyl vibrations in the region of 2800-3000 cm⁻¹ are queried andintegrally quantitatively accessed for authenticity recognition.

An especially good security recognition with strong discriminationagainst forgery substances is achieved with the Raman sensor accordingto the invention when this is adjusted with its properties to theemployed feature substances and vice versa, when upon selection of theemployed feature substances these are selected specifically in view ofthe proof with the Raman sensor.

For preparing a coding system for value documents, which coding systemis suitable for the differentiation and identification with the sensoraccording to the invention, there are different preferred embodiments.

For this, the value documents are marked with feature substances ormixtures of feature substances which comprise marker molecules havingstrong Raman signals in one or several spectral regions respectivelywith a spectral distance of more than 50 cm⁻¹, preferably more than 100cm⁻¹, particularly preferably more than 200 cm⁻¹. For this, markermolecules with one or several molecule structures with conjugatedmultiple bonds, differently substituted double bonds, a different numberof double bonds, C—C triple bonds, unsubstituted phenyl groups,mercaptans, S—H bonds, P—H bonds or fluorine groups are employed.

In a first preferred embodiment, a coding is created by selecting agroup of feature substances which all have strong signals in anindividual region. The strong signals of the substances mustsignificantly differ from each other here. For example, a series ofmolecules with differently substituted double bonds and/or differentnumber of double bonds can be created. The spectral resolution in theselected region is then increased by doing without remaining spectralregions located farther away. By employing a grating dispersing strongerthere can be achieved, while accepting a limited spectral region, ahigher spectral resolution in the region that is especially well forreliably identifying the selected feature substances. This enables areliable identification of the individual feature substances employedfor the coding with the help of a Raman measurement at high speed.

In a further preferred embodiment several regions are measured. Forthis, the Raman sensor can be equipped with several gratings which allowa scanning of different spectral regions with high resolution (withlimited number of the total channel number). Analogously, a grating withcorresponding detector can be used for monitoring a wide spectral regionwith low spectral resolution e.g. as to the absence of correspondingRaman signals, while a second grating disperses with high resolution thespectral region characteristic for the employed feature substance toallow a reliable allocation or identification of the marker moleculehere.

For preparing a coding system, feature substances or mixtures of featuresubstances having strong signals in several regions are selected. Fordistinguishing the individual feature substances, the strength or thepresence/absence of signals of the individual regions is then used. Forexample, a coding could be made by considering the three regions of2040-2080 cm⁻¹ (C—C triple bond), 990-1100 cm⁻¹ (unsubstituted phenylgroups) and 2800-3000 cm⁻¹ (alkyl chains). Here, even with thediminished spectral resolution of a high-speed measurement, a firstcoding substance (including a triple bond, an unsubstituted phenylgroup, but no alkyl groups) can be distinguished from a second codingsubstance (including a triple bond, no phenyl groups, but alkyl groups)and a third coding substance (including no triple bond, an unsubstitutedphenyl group as well as alkyl groups).

In a further preferred embodiment, a marker molecule with a triple bondis selected as a feature substance. Here, the spectral resolution isselected preferably so high that a C—C triple bond (typically at2040-2065 cm⁻¹) can still be separated from a C—N triple bond (typically2080-2105 cm−1).

Preferably, a correction of the background is carried out, e.g. tobalance fluorescence interference effects, by supporting points in theregion of 1900-2500 cm⁻¹, because here, except for the well definedindividual signal peaks of the triple bonds, no further Raman disturbingsignals occur. Occasional exceptions are e.g. the allenes and cyanates,which, however, are relatively exotic just as the molecules with triplebonds and hence do not occur in compounds usually present in or on banknotes.

In a further preferred embodiment, as feature substances there areselected compounds which have specific groups with spectral bandpositions which do not occur as substances typically contained in banknotes. These are, besides the already mentioned triple bonds, e.g. alsoconjugated multiple bonds, mercaptans and further S—H bonds withcharacteristic signals in the region of 2510-2540 cm⁻¹ as well as P—Hbonds (signals in the region of 2090-2500 cm⁻¹) or fluoride compounds.

In a preferred embodiment, instead of purely organic matters there areused metalorganic matters or inorganic matters as feature substances,for example, in the form of metalorganic chelate complexes or pure metalcomplexes or salts or oxides. The Raman signatures of metalorganiccomplexes often differ strongly from the typical bank note backgroundwhich promotes an undisturbed measurement. Also ceramic compounds showsignificant Raman bands which permit unambiguous allocations and clearlydistinguish an inorganic feature substance from paper additives such astitanium dioxide or barium sulphate.

The Raman or SERS feature substances which are proven with the Ramansensor of the invention can be introduced into the volume of individualcomponents of the value documents. The feature substances can beintroduced into the substrate volume or into the polymer composition ofsecurity threads, transfer strips, mottled fibers or planchets upon thepapermaking by metering them into the pulp. Additionally oralternatively, the feature substances can be mixed into a printing inkor coating composition and be applied onto the surface of the valuedocument with conventional printing methods. In this case, spatialcodings in the form of bar codes, 2D bar codes, signs, forms or symbolscan be effected which can be proven with the spatially resolving sensor.

It is desirable to record the Raman spectra at as many positions perbank note as possible. This is effected at least along a track over thebank note with the help of which the position of introduced or appliedSERS or Raman feature substances can be determined and checked.Likewise, this allows a (1D) bar code information to be read out bydetermination of the variation of the signal intensity depending on theposition on the bank note.

In one embodiment, several parallel tracks, e.g. 2 tracks, 3 tracks, 4tracks or more over the bank note are recorded.

In the simplest variant, for this all the optical components of theRaman sensor 12 are executed several times according to the number oftracks and are positioned according to the orientations of the tracks.This has the advantage that the optical beam positioning of every trackis completely separated from the other tracks and no interaction such ase.g. crosstalk or incidence of scattered light is to be feared.

In a more cost-efficient embodiment individual components are usedjointly by the different tracks. This is expedient e.g. for thediffraction grating 113 or the beam splitters 104, 107. Here, a uniformillumination for all the tracks can be employed, which then is focusedeither in the form of one single homogeneous line vertically to thetransport direction of the bank note or, alternatively, is focused byfocus lenses individual for every track in several circular orelliptical focus points. In both cases only one—where applicable morepowerful—excitation laser 101 is required which assumes the excitationfor several channels. The separation of the tracks in this embodiment iseffected on the detection side in the first place, each track having itsown detector system and the spectra of each track being recordedseparately.

In a preferred embodiment, the Raman light emanating from the valuedocument is scanned along several tracks, by it being coupled intorespectively one light guide in the form of a flexible glass fiber or arigid light guide at the height of each track position by a lens system103 or 106. Now the light guides direct the Raman light of the differenttrack positions together onto different, preferably adjacent heightpositions of the entrance slit of a spectrometer jointly employed forseveral tracks. This allows the Raman spectra of the different trackpositions being captured either with line detectors attached atdifferent height positions, or alternatively with an individual,two-dimensionally resolving detector array. Here, the detection alongthe dispersion direction of the spectrometer is effected simultaneously,while reading out the direction vertically thereto may be effected witha time shift. With this design the construction volume of the sensor canbe clearly reduced compared to a variant with several individualspectrometers.

In a further implementation variant, the recognition reliability uponthe identification of the Raman or SERS feature is increased by theRaman spectrum being checked and proven at more than one excitationwavelength. This allows Raman peaks to be reliably separated from e.g.fluorescent peaks which do not spectrally shift with the excitationwavelength. For this, a second laser light source is provided in thesensor, this may be coupled into the beam path together with the firstlaser light source or may employ a separate optics system. The secondexcitation wavelength can be spectrally relatively far away from thefirst excitation wavelength, e.g. 532 nm and 785 nm, or alternativelyspectrally relatively close to the first excitation wavelength at adistance of some nm, preferably of 1 nm to 50 nm, in particular 2-20 nm.The detection of the Raman responses at both excitation wavelengths ispossible either sequentially or simultaneously. In particular withsimultaneous detection the Raman spectra are complicated, because thenall peaks appear twice or in a shifted manner which may render theanalysis for a forgery attack more difficult.

In addition, there may possibly arise an overlapping of Stokes- andAnti-Stokes-shifted Raman lines in the measured spectral region whichoverlap or supplement each other at the spectral positions specified bythe selected excitation wavelengths and thus generate a unique“fingerprint” dependent on the selected excitation wavelengths.

In particular, by employing 2 excitation wavelengths there can beevaluated a combination feature with luminescence and Raman signals andthe respective contributions can be separated from each other, whichrepresents a further increase of the forgery complexity compared withthe measurement of such a combination feature with only one excitationwavelength.

In a preferred embodiment, there is effected a sequential illuminationwith excitation light of a slightly different wavelength or spectraldistribution and detection of respectively one spectrum with theintensity distributions I₁ (λ) or I₂ (λ). For evaluation, the twoobtained spectra can now be subtracted from each other and normalized,where applicable, with the spectral distance Δλ of the excitationwavelengths. In this difference spectrum the background contribution ofscattered light or fluorescence radiation is effectively eliminated, sothat, for the authenticity evaluation, these can be advantageouslycompared either directly with analogously formed difference spectra ofauthentic bank notes or with the derivative dI/dλ, of the referencespectrum of authentic bank notes obtained at an excitation wavelength.

In a particularly preferred embodiment, an illumination is alternatelyeffected with excitation light of a first, narrow-band laser source at afirst wavelength and alternating thereto with two laser lines which arespectrally closely adjacent, preferably at a distance of 1-50 nm, inparticular 2-20 nm to each other. Preferably, the two laser lines at thefirst wavelength and at a second wavelength are at a distance of 1-50nm, in particular 2-20 nm from the first wavelength. Further preferably,the spectral distance of the double line is advantageously tuned to aninteger multiple of the spectral distance of the channels of thedetector. In this case, upon excitation with the double line, no partialoverlaps occur between adjacent spectral channels, which avoidsartifacts.

A suitable light source with selective single and double line emissioncan be realized, for example, by coupling in a first laser source and asecond laser source in combined fashion. Both laser sources arepreferably mono-mode lasers, e.g. DFB lasers, so that by driving onelaser or both lasers the desired spectrum of excitation radiation can beeasily controlled. Particularly preferably, the first and the secondlaser sources are coupled as oscillators into an optical power amplifierin a MOPA architecture (master oscillator power amplifier). This has theadvantage that an identical coupling in of the excitation radiation ontothe bank note to be checked is ensured, because in spite of differentspectral distribution the starting point or the beam profile of theexcitation radiation is always determined by the same constructionelement, namely the power amplifier.

With this illumination scheme of the excitation radiation, uponillumination with the double line there is obtained with the sensor aRaman spectrum with twice occurring Raman peaks and singly occurringfluorescence peaks, while upon illumination with the mono-chromaticexcitation radiation each Raman peak occurs individually in overlap witha possible fluorescence background. If now, after normalization of bothspectra, the spectrum obtained with mono-chromatic excitation radiationis subtracted from the spectrum obtained with the excitation radiationwith the double line, not only the fluorescence background is deletedeven in difficult or intensive cases, but at the same also the Ramandouble peaks are reduced to a simple Raman spectrum having onlyindividually occurring peaks. For authenticity evaluation, this Ramanspectrum can now be compared in an especially simple manner withreference spectra of authentic bank notes, without further unfoldingbeing necessary.

The FIGS. 7A to 7D represent background-corrected measurement data ofthe Raman sensor 12 for four different feature substances in a divisionof the spectral channels scaled linearly in the wavelength. Theexcitation wavelength was 488 nm. The background portion of theintensity values in the spectral channels was determined by the movingminimum of respectively five spectral channels and was subtracted fromthe intensity values.

The four different feature substances are based on the four differentmarker molecules citric acid (FIG. 7A), nitrobiphenyl (FIG. 7B),diphenyloxadiazole (FIG. 7C), and tetrachlorobutane (FIG. 7D). One canrecognize that the four different feature substances, in spite of thespectral resolution being reduced in comparison to a laboratoryspectrometer, can be distinguished from each other or identified verywell with the help of their respective spectral fingerprint with signalcontributions in spectral regions quite far apart from each other.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A sensor for the machine check of moved value documents having at least one Raman or SERS or SERRS security feature, wherein, for checking, the sensor is configured to illuminate the value document with excitation light from a laser source and to disperse a resulting Raman light of the security features in a spectrometer and to capture it with spectral resolution with a detector having several spectral channels; wherein the light from the same areal region of the value document collected in the spectral channels is captured synchronously by the detector and measurement signals corresponding to the spectral channels are formed: and wherein scattered excitation light emanating from the value document is coupled via a slit module into the spectrometer such that Rayleigh-scattered excitation light is re-imaged onto an entrance slit, wherein the slit module has an absorption element which absorbs the Rayleigh-scattered excitation light at least partly.
 2. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the synchronous capture of the spectral channels is effected within less than 500 μs.
 3. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the sensor has a spatial resolution in a moving direction of less than 12 mm.
 4. The sensor according to claim 1 wherein the spectral channels are read out in parallel at the same time.
 5. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the sensor has less than 100 spectral channels.
 6. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the excitation light of an excitation laser directs via a beam splitter inclined toward a main beam path in the direction of the value document to be checked, wherein the beam splitter is configured as an edge filter for the selective reflection of the excitation light.
 7. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the scattered excitation light emanating from the value document is coupled via the slit module into the spectrometer, wherein the slit module has a detector element for monitoring power and/or wavelength of the Rayleigh-scattered excitation light.
 8. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein a power of the excitation light is selected in dependence on a measured remission signal.
 9. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein a power of the excitation light is reduced, when a measured remission is smaller than a threshold value or the measured remission does not change over several measurement cycles.
 10. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the sensor further has an evaluation unit which determines from the measurement signals corresponding to the spectral channels a background portion and subtracts this from the measurement signals to generate background-corrected measurement signals, wherein the background portion is determined with the help of a moving percentile from intensity values or with the help of the intensity values in predetermined spectral channels.
 11. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein, for checking, the sensor is configured to further illuminate the value document with excitation light from a second laser source and to disperse resulting Raman light of the security features in the spectrometer and to capture it with spectral resolution with the detector having several spectral channels.
 12. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is configured to illuminate the value document with a laser line at a first wavelength and alternating thereto with two laser lines having a spectral distance of 1-50 nm.
 13. The sensor according to claim 1, wherein the sensor is suitable for distinguishing and identifying a coding with feature substances, wherein the feature substances comprise marker molecules, wherein the marker molecules have strong Raman signals in one or several spectral regions with a respective spectral distance of more than 50 cm⁻¹.
 14. A method for the machine check of value documents having at least one Raman or SERS or SERRS security feature by means of a sensor, wherein during the check, the value document is moved relative to the sensor at high speed, for checking, the value document is illuminated with excitation light from a laser source, resulting Raman light of the security features is dispersed in a spectrometer, is captured with spectral resolution with a detector having several spectral channels, measurement signals corresponding to the spectral channels are formed, wherein the light from the same areal region of the value document collected in the spectral channels is captured synchronously by the detector and spatially resolved measurement signals are formed by repeated measurement, and the scattered excitation light emanating from the value document is coupled via a slit module into the spectrometer such that Rayleigh-scattered excitation light is re-imaged onto the entrance slit, wherein the slit module has an absorption element which absorbs the Rayleigh-scattered excitation light at least partly.
 15. The method according to claim 14, wherein in the measurement signals corresponding to the spectral channels a background portion is determined from intensity values with the help of a moving percentile, or determined with the help of the intensity values in predetermined spectral channels and interpolated by a polynomial and subtracted from the intensity values and hence background-corrected measurement values are calculated.
 16. The method according to claim 15, wherein a numerical classification of the background-corrected measurement values is carried out.
 17. The method according to claim 14, wherein an authenticity recognition of the value document is carried out by a verification algorithm which is based on the calculation of a similarity measure between a measured spectrum and a reference spectrum.
 18. The method according to claim 17, wherein a spectral shift of intensity values within a predetermined region is corrected or is tolerated upon the authenticity recognition. 